Problem: Ashley buys a basket of coconuts on sale for $\$5$ before tax. The sales tax is $3\%$. What is the total price Ashley pays for the basket of coconuts? (Round to the nearest hundredth or cent.)
Answer: In order to find the total price, first find the amount of sales tax paid by multiplying the sales tax by the original price of the basket of coconuts. ${3\%} \times {$5} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $3\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{3}{100}$ which is also equal to $3 \div 100$ $3 \div 100 = 0.03$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. ${0.03} \times {$5} = {$0.15}$ Add the sales tax you just found to the original price to find the final price Ashley paid. ${$0.15} + {$5.00} = $5.15$ Ashley needs to pay $$5.15.$